Director of the Joint Staff
The director of the Joint Staff (DJS) is a three-star officer who assists the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a cabinet of senior military officers within the United States Armed Forces who advise the secretary of defense and the president on military matters. The director assists the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in managing the Joint Staff and with the management and organization of the staff's members. The director also chairs meetings of the Operations Deputies, a subsidiary body comprising the director and a three-star delegate from each service who preview or resolve issues before they are escalated to the four-star level of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Director of the Joint Staff
Image: MG Alfred M. Gruenther
Image: Vice Adm. Arthur C. Davis, USN (cropped)
Image: Lt Gen Charles P. Cabell
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, which advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and the National Security Council on military matters. The composition of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is defined by statute and consists of a chairman (CJCS), a vice chairman (VJCS), the chiefs of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and the chief of the National Guard Bureau. Each of the individual service chiefs, outside their JCS obligations, works directly under the secretaries of their respective military departments, e.g. the secretary of the Army, the secretary of the Navy, and the secretary of the Air Force.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff in March 2022.
United States Secretary of Defense Harold Brown and United States Deputy Secretary of Defense Charles W. Duncan Jr with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General George S. Brown and the other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon in 1977
Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting (circa 1943). From left to right are: Gen. Henry H. Arnold, Chief of the Army Air Forces; Adm. William D. Leahy, Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy; Adm. Ernest J. King, Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations; and Gen. George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff of the United States Army.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1959. From left to right: Gen. Lyman L. Lemnitzer, USA; Adm. Arleigh A. Burke, USN; Gen. Nathan F. Twining, USAF (chairman); Gen. Thomas Dresser White, USAF; and Gen. Randolph M. Pate, USMC